Can you take all your RMD from one account? If you own traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRAs, the answer is yes. According to IRS Publication 590-B, you calculate the RMD separately for each of those IRAs, then withdraw the combined total from just one — or from any combination of those accounts. That rule doesn’t extend to 401(k) plans or 403(b) plans, which follow different aggregation rules entirely. The key distinction the IRS draws is between calculation and withdrawal. Those are two different steps, and that’s where most people with multiple IRAs get confused.

Here’s the RMD rule that surprises most people with multiple retirement accounts: you don’t always have to take money from every account you own. I spent time going through IRS Publication 590-B and the supporting Treasury regulations on RMD aggregation, and the answer turns out to be very specific — specific enough that getting it wrong can trigger a 25% excise tax on whatever you missed.

Can You Take All Your RMD From One Account? IRS Rules Explained

The biggest finding from my research into IRS RMD guidelines was surprisingly specific. IRS Publication 590-B confirms that you can calculate the RMD separately for each traditional IRA, SEP IRA, and SIMPLE IRA you own — and then take the combined total from any one or more of those IRAs.

This rule operates within the IRA group. It doesn’t create one universal RMD pool across every retirement account type you own. The IRS bases each IRA’s RMD on that account’s prior December 31 balance, divided by the applicable Uniform Lifetime Table divisor. That divisor changes with age — 26.5 at age 73, for example, and 24.6 at age 75.

So the aggregation rule isn’t just about simplifying paperwork. It’s about how you satisfy the requirement once you’ve done the math correctly. The math must happen per-account first. The withdrawal can then come from one account.

This distinction comes from IRC §408(a)(6) and Treasury Regulation §1.408-8. Those rules explain why the calculation stays per-account even when the final withdrawal consolidates into one IRA.

Do RMDs Need to Be Taken From Each Account?

This is the most common misconception. You don’t need to withdraw an RMD from every traditional IRA separately. But you do need to calculate the RMD for each account first.

Here’s a concrete example. Say you hold two traditional IRAs — one produces a $4,000 RMD, and the other produces a $6,000 RMD. The IRS aggregation rule allows you to satisfy the combined $10,000 requirement by withdrawing from just one of those accounts.

The same aggregation rule applies to SEP and SIMPLE IRAs within the covered IRA group. It does not extend to employer-sponsored plans like 401(k)s.

Does It Matter Which Account You Take Your RMD From?

Yes — and this is where the aggregation flexibility becomes genuinely useful. Since you can satisfy the combined IRA RMD from any account in the group, the choice of which IRA to withdraw from has real practical consequences.

Taking the aggregated amount from an IRA holding more liquid assets — cash or money market holdings, for example — avoids forced sales of less liquid investments held in your other accounts. If one IRA holds easily accessible cash while another holds assets that aren’t easy to sell quickly, the IRS rule lets you pull from the liquid account without touching the other.

How Does RMD Work With Multiple Accounts?

Different account types follow completely different aggregation rules. This is the part that trips people up most often. The assumption that all retirement accounts work like IRAs is wrong — and acting on that assumption can leave you short on a required withdrawal.

Here’s the three-way split the IRS actually uses:

Table — RMD Aggregation Rules by Account Type

Source: IRS Publication 590-B · IRS — Retirement Topics: Required Minimum Distributions. IRC §401(a)(9) and Treasury Regulation §1.401(a)(9)-1 govern employer plan rules.

The practical implication: an owner with several traditional IRAs, one 401(k), and one 403(b) faces three separate RMD calculations and three separate withdrawal processes. The IRA group aggregates internally. The 403(b) aggregates with other 403(b) accounts internally. The 401(k) stands alone. None of them cross-aggregate with the others.

When Do RMDs Have to Be Taken?

The timing rules matter as much as the account rules. The IRS RMD guidance identifies two starting ages under the SECURE 2.0 Act: age 73 for people born from 1951 through 1959, and age 75 for people born in 1960 or later.

For IRA owners, the first RMD can generally be delayed until April 1 of the year following the year they reach their applicable starting age. After that first deadline, all subsequent RMDs carry a December 31 annual deadline.

The IRS also bases each year’s RMD calculation on the account balance from the prior December 31 — not today’s balance. That’s the balance that drives the math.

What Happens If You Don’t Take All Your RMD?

An incomplete RMD triggers an excise tax under IRC §4974 as amended by the SECURE 2.0 Act. The standard penalty is 25% of the shortfall. That penalty drops to 10% if you correct the shortfall within two years (reduced from the previous 50% rate before SECURE 2.0).

One critical warning: taking money from the wrong account type doesn’t fix the shortfall. Withdrawing from an IRA doesn’t satisfy an outstanding 401(k) RMD. Each plan’s obligation stays tied to its own withdrawal rules. Missing that distinction — and assuming cross-type substitution works — is one of the most expensive RMD mistakes retirees make.

Do You Have to Take Your RMD All at Once?

No. The IRS doesn’t require a single annual distribution. The requirement is that the total amount is satisfied by the applicable deadline — not that it happens in one transaction.

For traditional IRA owners using the aggregation rule, the combined IRA total can come from one or more of those accounts, in as many separate withdrawals as needed, as long as the full required amount clears by December 31. The same flexibility doesn’t apply across different account types — a 401(k) obligation stays with the 401(k) plan regardless of how many IRA withdrawals you take.

What Accounts Have Required Minimum Distributions?

IRS RMD guidance identifies the following account types as subject to RMD rules: traditional IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, 401(k) plans, and 403(b) plans.

Roth IRAs are a specific exception — original Roth IRA owners face no lifetime RMD requirement while alive. Designated Roth accounts within 401(k) and 403(b) plans also became exempt from lifetime RMDs starting in 2024 under the SECURE 2.0 Act §107. That change brought designated Roth accounts in employer plans in line with the original Roth IRA treatment.

The phrase “retirement account” covers a wide range of plan types. The IRS doesn’t apply one identical RMD rule to all of them — and that’s exactly why account-type clarity matters before consolidating or aggregating any distribution.

The Bottom Line: 5-Step RMD Action Plan

How do you apply the IRS aggregation rules correctly? I spent time going through IRS Publication 590-B, current IRS RMD guidance, and the supporting Treasury regulations, and the approach that consistently holds up is keeping account-type rules clearly separated while using aggregation exactly where the IRS permits it. Here’s the 5-step sequence:

For traditional, SEP, and SIMPLE IRA owners, the IRS aggregation rule is one of the most practically useful provisions in the RMD rulebook. The key is calculating each account separately first — then using the flexibility the IRS grants for the withdrawal step.